Hot Toys | The Dark Knight Rises | Bane

HotToysBane02Every so often a villain comes around that is so formidable they fundamentally shake the foundation of the Earth. For Batman, that was Bane, a ruthless mercenary who, in the comic book world, was the first to break the Bat. Hot Toys quickly announced their intentions to make figures based on the movie The Dark Knight Rises and for me, Bane was a highly anticipated figure.

The wait was well worth it and when I received Bane I was quite happy with the product. He’s really nothing special and there’s hardly anything that makes the figure stand out, but I think that’s the charm of the character. He’s a very smart and very physical villain not seen in most cases and really doesn’t need a whole lot to create terror. The movie version certainly deviated from the comic book roots, but I think it was done very well and fit in with the Christopher Nolan universe. I think that’s what makes Batman and his villains so appealing in that in a twisted way, these are all plausible people that could exist in the world as opposed to the mutants or alien creatures in other comic books.

Hot Toys has proven once again that they succeed far more often than fail, and their work speaks for itself even if you have to wait. Patience is a virtue and when the final product is this good, I have no complaints even if my wallet does.

HotToysBane05This is definitely Tom Hardy as Bane. I think the head sculpt is amazing and the details are fantastic. Even the veins popping from the head are nicely sculpted. The mask is well detailed and that painful, sinister look is executed perfectly. I think the body could’ve been better but not by much. It looks great and even has the back scarring that Bane has, but as mentioned in the making of documentaries, they wanted Hardy to look like a circus strongman as opposed to a body builder and I would’ve liked to see that style of body. Overall though, it’s a great representation and looks great with the rest of the villains. I’m not one to be that nit-picky with screen accuracy so to me the outfit looks just fine and is a great representation. The only real issue I have is with the leather gauntlet. I suppose there really is no other way to do it, but the one you have to use with the closed fist doesn’t work all that well. Perhaps if they sculpted the gauntlet it might look better but I think it’s passable. The other details are great and even the cargo pants are well done. Considering this outfit is actually something people could wear in the real world, it’s well done.

The paint applications to the face are what you would expect from Hot Toys – Perfect. That life-like appearance is amazing and I still don’t think anyone can match it on a consistent basis. The outfit also has some weathering that is just enough to look great. What more can I say? This is truly the standard, whether people want to accept it or not.

Since Hot Toys chose to use their muscular body as the base, there are a few limitations compared to their True Type bodies. The arms are a bit restricted at the elbow so at best he can achieve a right angle bend. The shoulders are also restricted so having his arms go across his body or vertically is not as good as the True Type. This is most noticeable if you try to recreate the scene where he lifts Batman over his head as the shoulders will not move up. That being said, you can still achieve some nice poses.

Considering he’s not a DX figure, he comes loaded with a number of items including an assortment of hands, another leather gauntlet to be used with an open hand, a broken Batman cowl, a black shirt, an overcoat, and a special stand. There’s really nothing more he would need so I think I got the essentials.

I don’t worry too much about this figure. Even though the body has a rubber like material for the skin, I don’t worry too much about it cracking or drying out for some reason. I think he’s solid and doesn’t need to be treated like glass. The articulation is nice and tight and I can’t find any areas that make the figure weak. I would naturally keep him away from things that might leave marks or scratches, but overall the figure is rock solid.

This is a quality Hot Toys figure in my opinion. I’ve seen some customizers swap the arms out and that would probably make this figure close to perfect, but at this time I don’t feel I need to do that.

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